Laura McDermott Matheric

Laura McDermott Matheric’s first book of poetry, Visions on Alligator Alley was published by Lominy Books in 2015. A Professor of English, Laura regularly teaches writing workshops and literature courses at Broward College and throughout the community. Recent publications include The Closed Eye Open, The Sad Girl Diaries, Purple Ink Press, and Chameleon Chimera. She was appointed the first Poet Laureate of the City of Coconut Creek in 2022, furthering her efforts to support growth in education, the arts, and the community.

A native Floridian, Laura began her career at Broward College as an English adjunct in 2007 and has been a tenured Professor of English since 2010. Because of her dedication to higher education and writing, in an eight-year span, Laura was the recipient of the 2014/2015 Wells Fargo Endowed Teaching Chair of Broward College, and then the 2022/2023 Robert Elmore Family endowed Teaching Chair recipient. She was named the 2022 Distinguished Professor by the Association of Florida Colleges.

Laura received her Master’s of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Florida International University and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Higher Educational Leadership and Research Methodology from Florida Atlantic University.

Laura promotes realistic innovational practices in arts education and expansive ways to broaden the relationship between Coconut Creek and the county-wide community as well as though the state and national-wide literary and educational circuits.